Sweden may also investigate Apple over iPad 4G/LTE marketing

The Swedish Consumer Agency says it has received complaints from buyers who …

Just a day after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission filed a complaint over Apple's 4G/LTE marketing in the new iPad, Sweden is considering an investigation of its own. The Swedish Consumer Agency says it has received a number of complaints from iPad buyers about the device's LTE capabilities—only compatible in the US and Canada—and is now weighing whether it wants to open its own investigation into Apple's marketing practices.

"One may rightfully ask if the marketing of the new iPad is misleading," Swedish Consumer Agency lawyer Marek Andersson told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. "The question is whether this information is clear enough in Apple’s marketing."

Apple's LTE-equipped iPad went on sale on March 16, but the company doesn't sell different versions of the device in different countries. Although the WiFi+4G version of the iPad only works on LTE networks in the US, it's capable of functioning on 3G GSM networks worldwide. Apple does provide disclaimers on its site stating as much and, at least in Australia, WiFi+4G iPad boxes come with stickers that explicitly state the product is "not compatible with Australian 4G LTE networks, and will only operate at up to 3G speeds in Australia."

This hasn't stopped Australian consumers from buying the new iPad with the expectation that it would function on Telstra's LTE network, and Apple has offered to refund any buyers who felt they were misled about the iPad's 4G capabilities. The same will likely prove true in Sweden—customers do have access to an LTE network via TeliaSonera, but the iPad won't be able to make use of it—and it's a near guarantee that Apple will also offer refunds to disappointed Swedish customers.

iFixit traveled to Australia in order to be one of the first to purchase (and disassemble) a 3rd generation iPad.One of the things they prominently noted was the sticker on the package stating that the device is not compatible with Australian 4G networks. (http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/Kdi1 ... AoN.medium)

Anyway. Denmark is investigating it too since Friday, and the consumer board in Denmark are recommending consumers to either return their devices for a full refund or demand a rebate for non-existing functionality. This not only refers to 4G but also other functionality like advertised but not available in local models.

1. How exactly is returning a product for your money back getting access to AAPL's cash hoard?

2. I'm not exactly an Apple store regular, but my memory is that the iPads are sitting out for you to play with without benefit of boxes, and you get a boxed item fairly late in the process of purchasing one. Perhaps these are people who didn't stop right that second, read all the text on the box, and cancel their purchase? Hard to believe, I realize.

Apple products are great, but surely not so great that you have to go around attacking anyone who buys one, is disappointed in it, and wants to return it?

1. How exactly is returning a product for your money back getting access to AAPL's cash hoard?

2. I'm not exactly an Apple store regular, but my memory is that the iPads are sitting out for you to play with without benefit of boxes, and you get a boxed item fairly late in the process of purchasing one. Perhaps these are people who didn't stop right that second, read all the text on the box, and cancel their purchase? Hard to believe, I realize.

Apple products are great, but surely not so great that you have to go around attacking anyone who buys one, is disappointed in it, and wants to return it?

Wanting a refund is one thing, suing for false advertisement on a product that is clearly labelled as "Not being compatable with 4g in your country" is a different issue. Did you read the article? They've offered a FULL refund to anyone who isn't happy because of this, and they're STILL pushing with a lawsuit. That's not wanting your money back, thats wanting money for something you were too stupid to understand and subsequently too stupid to admit you didn't know.

The same thing struck me when reading the Japanese marketing material for the product. A massive bold headline proclaiming 4G LTE functionality, then a tiny, faintly light-gray fine print stating that it's only usable in the US or Canada. Almost missed it. I can understand that people get pissed off.

In Japan I doubt you can even fall back to 3G due to the lack of any (to my best knowledge) GSM network in that country.

Looks like Apple simply takes their North American marketing, does a literal translation to the local language and leaves it at that. Sloppy.

Apple offers a 30 day return policy which covers customer satisfaction. You don't need a consumer board stepping in to tell consumers "You can return it if you don't like it."

Apple's response to those looking for a rebate, given the lengths they've already gone through to notify customers of functionality, should be (and will be): "No". Don't like it, don't buy it. Don't like it after buying it? Return it.

These are basic retail principles, people. You don't need a government shield to read the return policy THAT'S PRINTED ON THE RECEIPT to you.

Apple offers a 30 day return policy which covers customer satisfaction. You don't need a consumer board stepping in to tell consumers "You can return it if you don't like it.".

In EU we have a consumer protection board that tell consumers that they can return their product within 24 months if the advertised capabilities (large print takes precedent over fine print) does not match the actual capabilities in use. Australia seems to have similar rules.

Anyway. Denmark is investigating it too since Friday, and the consumer board in Denmark are recommending consumers to either return their devices for a full refund or demand a rebate for non-existing functionality. This not only refers to 4G but also other functionality like advertised but not available in local models.

I guess she doesn't read the comments no.

Another thing worth mentioning, from the comments, was that the Danish ombudsmand expressed an interest in forwarding the case to the Irish authorities because that is where Apple is situated in the EU.

While interesting, perhaps not so logical, the Irish authorities won't do anything about Apples behaviour outside of Ireland. If you want smackdown covering the whole EU, it's the EC you need to contact.

I am sure the Danish ombudsmand is aware though, and it was just the author of the Danish article that were a bit confused.

The same thing struck me when reading the Japanese marketing material for the product. A massive bold headline proclaiming 4G LTE functionality, then a tiny, faintly light-gray fine print stating that it's only usable in the US or Canada. Almost missed it. I can understand that people get pissed off.

In Japan I doubt you can even fall back to 3G due to the lack of any (to my best knowledge) GSM network in that country.

Looks like Apple simply takes their North American marketing, does a literal translation to the local language and leaves it at that. Sloppy.

What's also sloppy is that they don't provide different versions for different regions. Instead they ship the same North American version worldwide. As stated in the article, we do have our own 4G network in Sweden, and coverage is actually pretty good within major cities. But because Apple were lazy, people who buy the New iPad™ won't be able to use it. If this was made more clear in the marketing, it would surely steer some sales to other, proper 4G-enabled tablets with multi-band support.

1. How exactly is returning a product for your money back getting access to AAPL's cash hoard?

2. I'm not exactly an Apple store regular, but my memory is that the iPads are sitting out for you to play with without benefit of boxes, and you get a boxed item fairly late in the process of purchasing one. Perhaps these are people who didn't stop right that second, read all the text on the box, and cancel their purchase? Hard to believe, I realize.

Apple products are great, but surely not so great that you have to go around attacking anyone who buys one, is disappointed in it, and wants to return it?

Wanting a refund is one thing, suing for false advertisement on a product that is clearly labelled as "Not being compatable with 4g in your country" is a different issue. Did you read the article? They've offered a FULL refund to anyone who isn't happy because of this, and they're STILL pushing with a lawsuit. That's not wanting your money back, thats wanting money for something you were too stupid to understand and subsequently too stupid to admit you didn't know.

That label was added to the iPad box by the store that iFixit bought it from not apple and is not present on every iPad sold in Australia + its advertised as 4G.

The same thing struck me when reading the Japanese marketing material for the product. A massive bold headline proclaiming 4G LTE functionality, then a tiny, faintly light-gray fine print stating that it's only usable in the US or Canada. Almost missed it. I can understand that people get pissed off.

In Japan I doubt you can even fall back to 3G due to the lack of any (to my best knowledge) GSM network in that country.

Looks like Apple simply takes their North American marketing, does a literal translation to the local language and leaves it at that. Sloppy.

What's also sloppy is that they don't provide different versions for different regions. Instead they ship the same North American version worldwide. As stated in the article, we do have our own 4G network in Sweden, and coverage is actually pretty good within major cities. But because Apple were lazy, people who buy the New iPad™ won't be able to use it. If this was made more clear in the marketing, it would surely steer some sales to other, proper 4G-enabled tablets with multi-band support.

It's got nothing to do with being lazy. The iPad 3 has the most advanced bundle of wireless radios on the planet, capable of connecting to more varied networks than any other commercial device before it. I can only assume that the part made by qualcomm does not support that LTE frequency.

The same thing struck me when reading the Japanese marketing material for the product. A massive bold headline proclaiming 4G LTE functionality, then a tiny, faintly light-gray fine print stating that it's only usable in the US or Canada. Almost missed it. I can understand that people get pissed off.

In Japan I doubt you can even fall back to 3G due to the lack of any (to my best knowledge) GSM network in that country.

Looks like Apple simply takes their North American marketing, does a literal translation to the local language and leaves it at that. Sloppy.

What's also sloppy is that they don't provide different versions for different regions. Instead they ship the same North American version worldwide. As stated in the article, we do have our own 4G network in Sweden, and coverage is actually pretty good within major cities. But because Apple were lazy, people who buy the New iPad™ won't be able to use it. If this was made more clear in the marketing, it would surely steer some sales to other, proper 4G-enabled tablets with multi-band support.

It's got nothing to do with being lazy. The iPad 3 has the most advanced bundle of wireless radios on the planet, capable of connecting to more varied networks than any other commercial device before it. I can only assume that the part made by qualcomm does not support that LTE frequency.

Lazy with regards to advertised features, not lazy in regards to component choice.

Apple offers a 30 day return policy which covers customer satisfaction. You don't need a consumer board stepping in to tell consumers "You can return it if you don't like it."

<snip>

These are basic retail principles, people. You don't need a government shield to read the return policy THAT'S PRINTED ON THE RECEIPT to you.

No, basic retail principles is that a company can only expand on consumers rights, not limit them.

The law in the EU, as mentioned, gives the consumer the right to return the product for a full refund if it does not live up to its advertised specs.

Apple can only expand on the time the consumer has this right, not limit it. They can offer 36 months, and that would then be legally binding.

30 days is irrelevant, if the law says 24 months. Besides I think you are confused. The 30 days is an expansion of consumer rights, as it offers the consumer the right to return a product that works as advertised. The law does not require a company to do that.

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I don't know about the Swedish consumer board, but if it's anything like the Danish, then it's doesn't have anything to do with the government. Likely the Swedish consumer board is made up of various consumer organisations, and a company can choose to ignore them.

Doing so is unwise though, since they have exactly the same power as the government. Ie. none. Their power is that they employ tons of lawyers, like the government, and will take the offending company to court on behalf of the consumer, and very likely win.

In the case of Denmark though, both the non-government consumer board, and the government itself, through the consumer ombudsmand, is involved in the case.

Though likely nothing will come of it if Apple stops advertising the units as 4G, and reimburses any consumer that contacts them. I can't see Apple not doing so, why would they want to go to court in a case they're 100% sure to loose with all the negative media attention that comes with it?

I don't know about the Swedish consumer board, but if it's anything like the Danish, then it's doesn't have anything to do with the government. Likely the Swedish consumer board is made up of various consumer organisations, and a company can choose to ignore them.

The law in the EU, as mentioned, gives the consumer the right to return the product for a full refund if it does not live up to its advertised specs.

Apple can only expand on the time the consumer has this right, not limit it. They can offer 36 months, and that would then be legally binding.

30 days is irrelevant, if the law says 24 months. Besides I think you are confused. The 30 days is an expansion of consumer rights, as it offers the consumer the right to return a product that works as advertised. The law does not require a company to do that.

I find this fascinating. Given this law, is there anything stopping someone in the EU from buying an iPad3 4G, using it for a year, and then returning it (to buy the newly-released iPad4, of course) effectively getting a free year-long rental?

I know everyone here is jumping up and down in Apple's defense, but here is a little tidbit. When you purchase an Ipod from a retail store here in Canada, you can't return it at that store. You must go through apple. The store's return policy does not apply to Apple products. In fact you get a small slip of paper stating that this item cannot be returned at the store. So returning Apple products is not always as simple as you make it to be.

I cannot predict what Apple's response would have been, had the consumer agencies not gotten involved, but when dealing with any major corporation in the world, it's nice to have someone in your corner.

Also, people, read before you buy. Apple did everything in this case (sticker and all) to convey to the consumers the limitation of this device.

I don't know about the Swedish consumer board, but if it's anything like the Danish, then it's doesn't have anything to do with the government. Likely the Swedish consumer board is made up of various consumer organisations, and a company can choose to ignore them.

Oh OK, it's probably comparable to the Danish consumer ombudsmand instead then (which also expressed an interest in the case).

@Black_Obsidian

You can't do this in bad faith.

I very much doubt it's possible to purchase an iPad now, without the seller making it very clear that this unit will not work with 4G. So purchasing one now probably wouldn't work, if returning it later was your goal.

edit:

Thinking about it, lets use a car analogy , if you for example purchase a FIAT 500 with the Abarth sticker on it, then after 1 year take it for some repair and at that point realise the Abarth sticker is fake. Isn't it more absurd if you only had 30 days of protection?

I think 24 months is resonable in such a case which is comparable to sticking a 4G sticker on a device which doesn't support 4G.

The same thing struck me when reading the Japanese marketing material for the product. A massive bold headline proclaiming 4G LTE functionality, then a tiny, faintly light-gray fine print stating that it's only usable in the US or Canada. Almost missed it. I can understand that people get pissed off.

In Japan I doubt you can even fall back to 3G due to the lack of any (to my best knowledge) GSM network in that country.

Looks like Apple simply takes their North American marketing, does a literal translation to the local language and leaves it at that. Sloppy.

What's also sloppy is that they don't provide different versions for different regions. Instead they ship the same North American version worldwide. As stated in the article, we do have our own 4G network in Sweden, and coverage is actually pretty good within major cities. But because Apple were lazy, people who buy the New iPad™ won't be able to use it. If this was made more clear in the marketing, it would surely steer some sales to other, proper 4G-enabled tablets with multi-band support.

Reminds me of how Apple would ship a 240v only power supply for european models while the rest of the computing world would use switchable 120/240 ones.

iFixit traveled to Australia in order to be one of the first to purchase (and disassemble) a 3rd generation iPad.One of the things they prominently noted was the sticker on the package stating that the device is not compatible with Australian 4G networks. (http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/Kdi1 ... AoN.medium)

So what's the problem?

The problem is that despite this sticker (and fact that iPad is not a 4G device as far as non-American countries are concerned), Apple still advertises it as a 4G device - and then uses the disclaimer as a fig leaf. This practice is prohibited in most countries.

<p><i>Apple does provide disclaimers on its site stating as much and, at least in Australia, WiFi+4G iPad boxes come with stickers that explicitly state the product is "not compatible with Australian 4G LTE networks, and will only operate at up to 3G speeds in Australia." </i></p>

<p>You were corrected on this last article. Why repeat it?</p>

<p>Some stores have added labels not Apple. Even if it was Apple it wouldn't excuse them. If the consumer has gone all the way to the store there is a greater chance they would buy it anyway to justify the effort. On top of that although they seem to have fixed it now the online Apple store was downright misleading. In fact it outright lied about compatibility originally claiming all the major mobile providers in Australia are building 4g networks, and then they later removed that and added a footnote mentioning it wasn't compatible. Though even that doesn't get them off.</p>

1. How exactly is returning a product for your money back getting access to AAPL's cash hoard?

2. I'm not exactly an Apple store regular, but my memory is that the iPads are sitting out for you to play with without benefit of boxes, and you get a boxed item fairly late in the process of purchasing one. Perhaps these are people who didn't stop right that second, read all the text on the box, and cancel their purchase? Hard to believe, I realize.

Apple products are great, but surely not so great that you have to go around attacking anyone who buys one, is disappointed in it, and wants to return it?

Wanting a refund is one thing, suing for false advertisement on a product that is clearly labelled as "Not being compatable with 4g in your country" is a different issue. Did you read the article? They've offered a FULL refund to anyone who isn't happy because of this, and they're STILL pushing with a lawsuit. That's not wanting your money back, thats wanting money for something you were too stupid to understand and subsequently too stupid to admit you didn't know.

If the advertising got people off their couch saying the "iPad 4G is here!" and they went to the store to see a sticker that states otherwise, they can rightfully sue for misleading advertising. You don't even have to buy the product. OK maybe not sue, but you definitely can file a complaint.

The option to sue for misleading advertising helps to keep corporations from just anyhow advertising as they see fit. There's no point in defending the corporations. They don't need your help. They've got highly paid lawyers for that. Also, it's not like corporations don't also go after their users and fanbase. In Apple's case, hiring an assault force to storm the doors of a Jason Chen. Believe me, they don't need your help.

Apple offers a 30 day return policy which covers customer satisfaction. You don't need a consumer board stepping in to tell consumers "You can return it if you don't like it."

Apple's response to those looking for a rebate, given the lengths they've already gone through to notify customers of functionality, should be (and will be): "No". Don't like it, don't buy it. Don't like it after buying it? Return it.

These are basic retail principles, people. You don't need a government shield to read the return policy THAT'S PRINTED ON THE RECEIPT to you.

Thats nice and all but in some countries, "basic" retail doesn't allow return policy of any kind, even if the device is faulty. Protection bodies are necessary, even if they don't always have the bite to back it up.

In Fact, here in Singapore, if you buy, for example, a computer from one of the computer malls, it used to be you were on your own. Once you paid for it, any problems and you'd have to go direct to the manufacturer/company. The shop doesn't have any liability to even replace faulty equipment.

It was only recently that this practice was changed where you have a 7 day grace period. Any problems with the device and you can do a 1 for 1 exchange. No refund. In fact, refunds here are so rare as to be a myth perpetrated by western consumers.

Our own consumer protection agency doesn't actually have very much protection powers. They create guidelines that aren't legally binding in any way. However, the consumer protection body CAN influence these things. See my example on 1 for 1 exchange within 7 days.

Apple really deserves to be slapped for this. The LTE that Apple is promoting in IPad 4G *ONLY* works in North America. Pretty much every other country in the world is on different standard frequency.

So again just to be clear: Almost every country in the world has one standard and the USA has another. What Apple has done is ship the new IPad worldwide to (whatever) 20-30 countries without any changes to the product or packaging or marketing.

If we are talking about the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps, I would like to mention FriendCaller VoIP here. I use it daily on my iPhone 4S and I m pretty much pleased. You might try as well. http://fc.vc/infographic-fc This is much comprehensive and packed in one location.